Rabobank FX down in first half

UTRECHT – Dutch bank Rabobank said last week its forex revenues were down on the previous year for first-half 2002.

The bank does not break out FX trading numbers in its interim financial report, and senior foreign exchange officials at the bank were not available for comment. However, the bank noted that while commission in the period under review was up 9% to e915 million from e843 million in the first half of 2001, “commission income from foreign exchange arbitrage fell due to the introduction of euro banknotes and coins on January 1 2002.”

Lower earnings in first half
In addition, the bank’s Group Treasury unit, which contains foreign exchange, also saw lower earnings in the first half. “Group Treasury fell short of the result achieved in the good first half of 2001 due to the lower volatility of interest rates,” the bank said in a statement.

Rabobank’s wholesale banking
business (Rabobank International, Rabobank Nederland Corporate Clients and Group Treasury) achieved an operating result of e532 million, compared with e539 million in the first half of 2001.

The bank’s result mirrors many
of its global mid-tier foreign exchange peers, most of whom suffered from the lack of volatility in the currency markets throughout the first quarter of this year.

However, the fortunes of the larger European banks are very different. ABN Amro Bank, the leading Dutch FX player, recently reported a 25% uptick in its group-wide FX profits to e280 million (FX Week, August 19). “We had another strong quarter and we’re on course to meet our full-year targets,” said an ABN Amro spokesperson in London.